Trip Report Ireland and Scotland (for Rinty)

This is the front porch of our forum. Pull up a chair, and talk about whatever's on your mind.
Shelsmiles
Posts: 265
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:19 am

Trip Report Ireland and Scotland (for Rinty)

Post by Shelsmiles »

Rinty, here is your Trip Report. I will probably have to do this in a couple of posts. We will start with Ireland.

We spent 8 days in each country, my daughter and I. We started in Dublin, staying at the Claremore right on the River Liffey in city Center Dublin near the Temple Bar area. My DD thought it was fun that the hotel was owned by Bono from U2. We arrived In the early afternoon and spent day one acclimating and walking around the area to orient ourselves. The first thing we noticed was all of the beautiful flower boxes everywhere. On day two, we had a coffee at a little shop in Temple Bar and watched the Guinness trucks pick up and deliver truckloads of kegs of Guinness the local bars. We went for a walk and had the most amazing breakfast of protein pancakes with banana, berries and Nutella at a little cafe on O’Connell street. Then we went on a tour of Farmleigh House. This is where heads if state stay when they visit Dublin and they were preparing for the king and queen of the Netherlands the next day. Sadly the art gallery was closed but the house was amazing, the gardens were magnificent as it’s In the middle of a huge park. We had a pub dinner at Darkey Kelly’s and turned in.

The next day, we joined our tour group and visited Trinity College, saw the Book of Kells, and our favorite, the library. The library is absolutely astounding. We left our tour group at this point to go shop and tour the Guinness Storehouse as they were going to drive back to the hotel for a rest. It is a pretty cool place and a don’t miss if you’ve never been. Even if you aren’t a beer drinker it is pretty interesting. Dinner was with the group at an Inn outside of town with a dinner show featuring an Irish trad band and Irish dance.

The next day, we went to the National Stud Farm in Kildare (spectacular gardens again), went to Waterford and toured the crystal factory and watched them make the crystal pieces. Then we headed to Blarney Castle, climbed to the top but didn’t kiss the Blarney Stone. Too many germs. Dinner was another pub with music and dancing.

The next day we stayed in Killarney.
Shelsmiles
Posts: 265
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:19 am

Re: Trip Report Ireland and Scotland (for Rinty)

Post by Shelsmiles »

Killarney is a great place. We took a jaunty ride through Killarney National Park. We toured the Cliffs of Moher and we toured the Ring of Kerry. We also spent a couple hours at a spa , did some light shopping for Aran sweaters, and had a great dinner. We spent two nights there.

Galway was a fun town. We went to Sally Longs, walked around town, poked around some used book stores, and bought fancy chocolates to snack on. Then we drove to Drumcliff to visit the church where William Butler Yeats was buried. We then took the ferry to Northern Ireland.

I may have a little bit of this timeline jumbled, but we packed an awful lot into the time we had. More Tomorrow.
User avatar
Jackielou
Posts: 13395
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:51 pm

Re: Trip Report Ireland and Scotland (for Rinty)

Post by Jackielou »

Sounds likesome of the tour we were on in Ireland a few years back. The Guinness tour was very interesting.
Jackie
http://inthelandofthelivingskiesii.blogspot.ca/
rinty
Posts: 1919
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 3:54 am

Re: Trip Report Ireland and Scotland (for Rinty)

Post by rinty »

Shelsmiles wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:52 pm Rinty, here is your Trip Report. I will probably have to do this in a couple of posts. We will start with Ireland.

We spent 8 days in each country, my daughter and I. We started in Dublin, staying at the Claremore right on the River Liffey in city Center Dublin near the Temple Bar area. My DD thought it was fun that the hotel was owned by Bono from U2. We arrived In the early afternoon and spent day one acclimating and walking around the area to orient ourselves. The first thing we noticed was all of the beautiful flower boxes everywhere. On day two, we had a coffee at a little shop in Temple Bar and watched the Guinness trucks pick up and deliver truckloads of kegs of Guinness the local bars. We went for a walk and had the most amazing breakfast of protein pancakes with banana, berries and Nutella at a little cafe on O’Connell street. Then we went on a tour of Farmleigh House. This is where heads if state stay when they visit Dublin and they were preparing for the king and queen of the Netherlands the next day. Sadly the art gallery was closed but the house was amazing, the gardens were magnificent as it’s In the middle of a huge park. We had a pub dinner at Darkey Kelly’s and turned in.

The next day, we joined our tour group and visited Trinity College, saw the Book of Kells, and our favorite, the library. The library is absolutely astounding. We left our tour group at this point to go shop and tour the Guinness Storehouse as they were going to drive back to the hotel for a rest. It is a pretty cool place and a don’t miss if you’ve never been. Even if you aren’t a beer drinker it is pretty interesting. Dinner was with the group at an Inn outside of town with a dinner show featuring an Irish trad band and Irish dance.

The next day, we went to the National Stud Farm in Kildare (spectacular gardens again), went to Waterford and toured the crystal factory and watched them make the crystal pieces. Then we headed to Blarney Castle, climbed to the top but didn’t kiss the Blarney Stone. Too many germs. Dinner was another pub with music and dancing.

The next day we stayed in Killarney.

Aw, thanks for this , its a great read. DH and I stayed in a nearby hotel when we went to Dublin, we loved the Book Of Kells too. I love hearing about other peoples views of their holidays. Sounds like you had a great time, what a brilliant tour company. Looking forward to Scotland ( its one of my fav ever holiday destinations !) Did you love it ?
Shelsmiles
Posts: 265
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:19 am

Re: Trip Report Ireland and Scotland (for Rinty)

Post by Shelsmiles »

Sorry for the lag in getting back. I’ve had some sick calves I’ve been dealing with. 😊

Yes, I loved Scotland too. We had a stopover in Londonderry in Northern Ireland on our way which we found very interesting. We stayed at Ballygally Castle right on the coast. What a great place! It’s also a filming location for Game of Thrones, which I have never watched but hear I should



In Scotland we visited Ardgowan House where we met Sir Ludo who gave us a personal tour and we had tea. It’s truly a cool house and hearing the stories of Robert the Bruce was an added
bonus.

We went to Glasgow where DD and I struck out on our own and had a really nice steak dinner. The next day we went to Doune
Castle which is also a filming location for Outlander ( Leoch Castle in the series) as well as GOT. We stopped over at a big memorial for the Scottish soldiers and did Loch Ness. It’s beautiful there but I didn't get to check out the castle which was a disappointment. We also toured the Glen Ord whiskey distillery. Very interesting. They spoke a lot about how dangerous a spark can be and how quickly a distillery can burn. Not long after we got home, the Jim Beam distillery went up in flames and drove home the point!

One of the best things we did in Scotland was the museum and grounds at Culloden. WOW. I would have spent all day in that museum if I could have. Also highly impressed with our next stop at Blair Castle. The castle, the grounds, the gardens, the pipers. It was amazing.

We stopped and checked out a ring of standing stones. Several gals on the tour had a lot of fun clowning around. We drove through and enjoyed the Highlands of course. Rugged and beautiful, it made me miss my Rocky Mountains. We went to St Andrews naturally. I’m not a golfer but it’s a beautiful course. We walked Along the coast and did a bit of shopping in town and had a nice lunch.

Edinburgh was an incredible city. It’s gorgeous. The only problem is that everyone else in the world agrees. Lol! We spent most of a day at Edinburgh Castle and the rest exploring the city. Our tour ended and we spent a couple of extra days in Edinburgh having some fun. We did a haunted underground tour with some great Aussie friends we met on tour, had some nice food and spent a day just wandering and enjoying our time in the city before heading back.
Shelsmiles
Posts: 265
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:19 am

Re: Trip Report Ireland and Scotland (for Rinty)

Post by Shelsmiles »

Jackielou wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 4:36 am Sounds likesome of the tour we were on in Ireland a few years back. The Guinness tour was very interesting.
I found the building itself to be pretty amazing. And the smell or roasted barley is uniquely enjoyable to me.
Post Reply